Best Christmas gift - EVER!

Someone mentioned where my feet are located on the floor, and that is a good point. They both need to be firmly on the floor, not twisted on the chair leg and have no crossed legs or ankles. I don't know that BOTH of my feet are always flat on the floor, but I'll be more aware of that. I'm still trying to learn all the things I can and cannot do and to avoid pain. 

And YES- I will follow up with my doctor next week to see what else can be done. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm experimenting; I just want to find comfortable spots to sit and sleep!

I think we might forfeit our Christmas Day at the movies. First, there isn't anything I want to see, so I will again go to something DH wants to see. But even he doesn't seem that enthused. So I will sit for 2½ hours to see a movie I don't want to see? I don't think so. 

We'll rent a movie online, and I'll get popcorn today! Then, if I need to get up, no problem. It was just such a hassle to find a theatre and a time that worked. I won't start watching a 2½ hour movie at 6 p.m. That does NOT work for me. 

Am I disappointed? Nope --- I'm OK with staying home. Besides, it'll be much cheaper. 

Last night's puzzle on the EXIT Game was interesting but very solvable! We were done quickly, and then we had to talk to each other! 

It's time to get that annual admin work done. The classes are over for this year, but I still have a bit of follow-up to do, and I need to set all the dates for 2025. All of my clubs fall on Sunday, which is fine, except that I signed up for a series of quilt classes (in French!) in 2025 that also fall on a Sunday! Let's say that Sundays in February were at a premium!!! It took a bit of juggling, and I'll have to watch one or two of the ones I signed up for in the recording. 

It was nice not to have to juggle so many around, and I'd like to get rid of one more, but I don't know how to do that as I want to continue with all of them. So this is the way it's going to be! 

Shoot - I promised to post dates of classes or something online, but I'm not doing that this morning. 

However, I will post two retreats. 

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The first is machine embroidery, and I have yet to determine the class schedule and cost. However, here is the information if anyone wants to save the date. 

Hands-On Machine Embroidery - TWO-day workshop

Dates: Friday, February 21 (starting at 1 p.m. - allowing time for set-up and lunch) to Sunday, February 23 (not sure of the end time, but we have to be out of the facility by 3 p.m.)

Location: Spring House Retreat House near New Hamburg, Ontario

Cost: It will be approximately $300 for the two days. I'm working out how many meals it will include. 

I will likely offer a kit of stabilizers and perhaps threads as well. More information on that later. 

There will be no ZOOM option; it's only available in person!

If anyone is interested, 11 spots are available, and three are already gone! 

If you are interested, please send me an email: elainetheriault@gmail.com. 

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Journal/bookmaking -  two-day workshop

The second one is at the same location but will focus on making journals and books. I'm still working out the details, but the dates will be Friday, September 12, to Sunday, September 14. Let me know if you are interested in that one. Only a few people may make journals while the rest quilt, and I'm OK with that. 

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I was up very early this morning and heard the most bizarre thing. At about 4:00 a.m., I heard two very loud, clear WHISTLES, like someone whistling for their dog. Murphy heard them, too, and was alert. But we saw no one in the front or the back. Now, what was that all about? 

I love watching Murphy watch the entertainment in the backyard. There was a squirrel in the trees where that circle is, but look at her ears. She was listening to me! What a silly girl!

MOM -- I'm busy - I'm on guard duty!

I think it's hilarious that in my decluttering, I've got organizing magazines to deal with. I had pulled many articles about organizing and storage from other magazines and put them on a shelf in the office. There was also a stack of storage and organizing magazines. So I pulled it all out and found duplicates, one of which is in the recycling. 

TWO? 

I had great intentions from 2007 to 2013, and I'm not sure what happened after that. I was on my own. 

Back in 2007 - I was thinking of organizing

I have both Storage and Organizing magazines, as well as some books. 

Covered all the bases in my magazine-buying

I now have a shelf in the office with books and a few magazines, and I want that shelf to be CLEAR by the end of 2025. I don't need to keep any of the magazines or books, but I want to read/browse them before they go. OK -- I confess I will read them. I can't help myself. It's just one shelf, but clearing one is better than never touching any! Besides the books and magazines, there is a box of "junk," which I'll also take care of. Trust me, the other shelves will go quicker, and I might even get to one or two other shelves. 

While browsing (OK - reading) the articles I had pulled from other sources, I got a chuckle at this. It was about putting pretty things on a shelf. Hey - we need to have some knick-knack things. But I'll quote the article by Helen Buttigieg, a Certified Professional Organizer, or at least she was in 2011. 

"Evaluate each item on the basis of how it makes you feel when you look at it. Be brutally honest with yourself; anything that doesn't make you smile needs to go., including all those gifts you've received from well-meaning friends and relatives."

I thought that was VERY APPROPRIATE for this time of year. Sometimes, your thoughtful gift is a burden to the recipient. I don't have many things in that category - most of the stuff is gone or will be gone. I never had much to begin with that were unwanted gifts. 

But I may have received the best Christmas gift ever, and it was from M. No, it's not a baby. They'll do that when ready. I'm not pushing or hoping, as it has nothing to do with me.

I've been after her for 10 years to finish clearing the boxes of her stuff in the guest room. And she's promised to do it forever! But her heart was never in it, and I didn't want to throw it out, as it was her job, not mine. 

Well, we've arranged for her best friend (who lives near the house) to come in next week, and the two of them will sort the boxes via FaceTime. I'm practically giddy, and if it pans out, this will be the best gift ever!!!!! I trust Yagana way more than I trust my child—at least to get this job done! 

While standing in the room yesterday, showing Yagana what needed sorting, I put my hand on the bookcase and found this CD!!! I've been looking for that for M for a couple of months! Yeah!!!!!

The missing CD!!

When Yagana rang the doorbell, I was at the sewing machine. I turned my chair to get up, and WAHM - I knocked over my glass of water. I moved a few things out of the way (my phone) and ran to get the door. 

When I got back, I had to clean up the mess. However, my little mug rug did its job, absorbing a LOT of the water. Having many loose things in that white basket also saved much from getting wet! 

OH - spilled water!

The poor mug rug was saturated!!! 

The mug rug doing its job

This morning, it's dry, but it looks like it's been washed! 

It's all OK now

Thanks to Ronda for the handy mug rug - it saved a lot of clean-up time!!!

I was working on the follow-up emails for the UFO Club. Can you believe that we've been doing the online version of the club for 5 years? Oh - I think I said that yesterday. There wasn't enough room left in my notebook to write down the commitments, so I opened a new one this morning. It was easy to find one. I went to my supply cupboard, found a new one, and started!!! 

The new UFO journal

As part of my holiday admin, I must clean up my storage. I have 154.9 GB of crap on my OneDrive, and I'll see how much of that goes. Most of the space is taken with old presentations (some from 2022), and they no longer need to be kept! At least they are NOT older than 2022!

That's a LOT of files!

It's a fun time of year, as I have a break now that all the classes are over. This allows me time to set all the dates and get organized for next year, which is the most challenging part of the entire process. But I did that early this morning, so I'm good to go!!

Remember, today, we have a virtual retreat at 10 a.m. I'll run it until 2 p.m. or until most of us are gone. I must zip out for a 30-minute massage at 11 a.m. 

Here's the Zoom link: 

TODAY - December 24 - open at 10 a.m. EST. Stop by to say HI, Merry Christmas. No need to stay if you are busy. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82943785348?pwd=bGWr9eXWYTj9rybqmMB5e5SeJINw5o.1

Meeting ID: 829 4378 5348
Passcode: 870535

On that note, I'm off to walk the girls!!!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!